Research Alert: July 14, 2022

County-Level Availability of Obstetric Care and Economic Implications of Hospital Closures on Obstetric Care

This policy brief provides descriptive data on the economic changes underway in counties that lost obstetric care facilities between 2012 and 2019.

• The majority of rural counties in the United States do not have an obstetric care provider within their borders.
• Counties without obstetric care facilities have higher rates of poverty and lower rates of health insurance coverage across all ages.
• For the years studied, data illustrate a decline in economic activity after counties experienced a loss in obstetric facilities, either through facility conversion or through hospital closure.
• Counties which lost obstetric care access also had decreases in their labor forces and population of reproductive age.

Additional Resources of Interest:

• More information about the Center for Economic Analysis of Rural Health
• More information from the Rural Health Information Hub's topic guides: Healthcare Access, Hospitals, Social Determinants of Health